Let America be America again.Let it be the dream it used to be.Let it be the pioneer on the plainSeeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--Let it be that great strong land of loveWhere never kings connive nor tyrants schemeThat any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where LibertyIs crowned with no false patriotic wreath,But opportunity is real, and life is free,Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.I am the red man driven from the land,I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--And finding only the same old stupid planOf dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,Tangled in that ancient endless chainOf profit, power, gain, of grab the land!Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!Of work the men! Of take the pay!Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.I am the worker sold to the machine.I am the Negro, servant to you all.I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--Hungry yet today despite the dream.Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!I am the man who never got ahead,The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dreamIn the Old World while still a serf of kings,Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,That even yet its mighty daring singsIn every brick and stone, in every furrow turnedThat's made America the land it has become.O, I'm the man who sailed those early seasIn search of what I meant to be my home--For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,And torn from Black Africa's strand I cameTo build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?Surely not me? The millions on relief today?The millions shot down when we strike?The millions who have nothing for our pay?For all the dreams we've dreamedAnd all the songs we've sungAnd all the hopes we've heldAnd all the flags we've hung,The millions who have nothing for our pay--Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again--The land that never has been yet--And yet must be--the land where every man is free.The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--Who made America,Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--The steel of freedom does not stain.From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,We must take back our land again,America!

O, yes,I say it plain,America never was America to me,And yet I swear this oath--America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,We, the people, must redeemThe land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.The mountains and the endless plain--All, all the stretch of these great green states--And make America again!

This year for my WW Fenn I will recite Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes I chose this poem because first too many people were doing IF and I wanted to have my own unique piece, and second because I find this poem very inspiring. This poem talks about all the hard ships America has gone through and that America has not always been equal for all and that not everyone had freedom in the past. I am very exited to recite this poem and I just hope I can recite the whole entire thing without forgetting a part.

I too chose my second choice because so many people were doing Dulce et Decorum Est

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Chewy Bruni

01/28/2014 4:31pm

Great piece, I love the emphasis of repeating the same phrase over and over, im excited to see you recite it.

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Fitz

01/28/2014 6:47pm

This is an ambitious and powerful poem. I am proud of you taking this piece on. A bit more detail in your reflection would be helpful to help your reader more fully understand how and why you want to present this poem.

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Fitz

01/28/2014 6:49pm

I'd love to see some journal entries!

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Owen

01/29/2014 8:36am

This was a great selection. Your Journal is great as well. However, may I suggest that you have your journal after your homepage instead of as a subpages to your blog page.

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Clem

01/30/2014 8:15am

Gonna be a banger James, this certainly is a unique piece. Looking forward to you reciting this.

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Quincy

01/30/2014 8:22am

A good piece, but you should change the font to match and include a "read more" bar. Also, perhaps a lengthier reflection is in order.

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Spencer Pava

01/30/2014 8:28am

Great choice James, I'm really excited to see how it turns out

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Winslow

01/30/2014 6:30pm

I really enjoy his poetry, though I feel like a lot of it is REALLY long or REALLY short. This one is lengthy, but not too long that it is boring.

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Billy VW

02/01/2014 6:23pm

Cool piece! I like how the author worked the beginning of the Constitution into the last stanza.

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Hal

02/02/2014 12:45pm

I am also doing this so it will be a battle, good luck.

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Paul

02/04/2014 4:25pm

This is a fantastic poem. I have an illustrated book of it, in fact. Great choice and good luck.

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Reid Monahan

02/05/2014 12:31pm

Great Choice.

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Billy

02/06/2014 3:46pm

Hey James, this is the second time I've been back looking for a new post . If you will use the Shout Box then I will come back. Thanks.

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Quincy

02/09/2014 7:59am

You should probably get some more posts up. Also, the poem is kinda hard to read and it looks out of place due to the font.